Elders in Acts 14:23

Let's continue the discussion of the role of elders/overseers/pastors by looking at the next instance of the word "elder." We find it in Acts 14:23.

Acts 14:19-23, "But Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, and having persuaded the crowds, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing that he was dead. 20 But when the disciples gathered about him, he rose up and entered the city, and on the next day he went on with Barnabas to Derbe. 21 When they had preached the gospel to that city and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch, 22 strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God. 23 And when they had appointed elders for them in every church, with prayer and fasting they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed." (emphasis mine)

This episode takes place during Paul's first missionary journey (I have always loved the way Paul gets stoned, but then somehow gets up and returns to the city).

On this journey, Paul and Barnabas traveled through parts of Asia Minor. They proclaimed the gospel of Jesus Christ and people were saved. Churches were started in these different cities. Paul and Barnabas did a U-turn of sorts once they reached Derbe, going back to the cities they had previously visited. When they did this, they encouraged the new believers and warned them that they would likely face persecution. In 14:23, we read that Paul and Barnabas "appointed elders for them in every church." Paul and Barnabas prayed and fasted for them, and then departed.

This is a fairly straightforward narrative passage. As in Acts 11:30, the elders are almost mentioned in passing. The focus is on Paul and Barnabas' activities rather than on the elders themselves.

Although this passage is short as it pertains to elders, we can still learn at least six things.

1. Elders are appointed by someone.

In this case, the church planters Paul and Barnabas appointed the elders. We can surmise that these two men looked around the churches and saw who should be elders. They then appointed them. We don't know why particular men were appointed or what they were supposed to do (we learn these things in other passages), but we can safely say that someone appointed them.

Notice that they didn't appoint themselves. This is far different from today when men go off to seminary, graduate, and then basically declare themselves ready "to preach!"

We cannot be certain what Paul and Barnabas were looking for in these men, but it is safe to say they had the characteristics of I Timothy 3:1-7 in mind. In other words, these were probably godly, mature men who lived in such a manner as to be examples to others in the church bodies.

2. Elders should be multiple, not singular.

Let us take note that "elders" not "elder" were appointed in every church. This is a role of multiplicity, not singularity. Throughout the N.T. churches we read of multiple elders.

How easily we ignore this today.

3. Elders are part of the church.

This is implied rather than overtly stated. However, I think we can safely say that Paul and Barnabas appointed men who were already parts of these church bodies. They would have recognized who were already acting as mature examples to others, and would then have appointed them. There is, quite obviously, no way someone could be an example if he was not part of a particular local church in the first place. We never get the idea that, for example, Paul appointed someone from Lystra to be an elder in Iconium.

Again, think how far we have strayed from this model today.

4. Elders are for the benefit of the church.

Acts 14:23 says, "And when they had appointed elders for them..." Notice that Paul and Barnabas appointed elders for the good of the people - for the benefit of the church families. So we clearly see that the church is not to benefit the elders (although that will probably happen), but the other way around. This clearly implies servanthood on the part of the elders. It also rules out any type of special status or rock-star type benefit on the part of the elders.

5. Elders are important for the church.

Elders are appointed in every church. Paul and Barnabas would not have done this in every church if elders were not important. We must be careful here. This does not automatically mean that elders are leaders in any type of hierarchical sense. It also does not mean that elders are more important than anyone else. We can simply infer that elders are important. If the role is one of being godly examples of servanthood, then this makes complete sense.

6. Churches should have elders.

Related to #5, we can surmise that elders should be a part of every church. Otherwise, Paul and Barnabas would not have appointed them "in every church." Every means 100%. The fact that there were no exceptions is significant. As there is a tendency in traditional churches to elevate elders (usually referred to as "pastors") to a special status, there is also a tendency among simple churches to react against this by having no elders. Neither of these follows the biblical model.

These are six aspects of the role of elders/overseers/pastors that I believe we can learn from this verse. What do you think?